India will investigate allegations of physical and sexual abuse of a woman by a group of police officers at a police station in the eastern state of Odisha. The alleged assault has caused a public outcry, and several police officers who may be involved have already been suspended. UNN writes about this with reference to the BBC.
Details
Last week, a 32-year-old woman and her fiancé, an army officer, filed charges of violence against police officers. Her video message was widely circulated on the Internet, and the state department for combating crime launched an investigation into the case.
A law graduate who runs a restaurant in Bhubaneswar, the state capital, said she went to Bharatpur police station with her fiancé after the restaurant closed around 01:00 because a group of men were chasing them on the road. She said they asked the police to send a patrol car to intercept the men, who could not get far.
The policemen refused to write a statement, instead they started mocking us. When I told them that I graduated from law school and knew my rights, they got even angrier
According to her, the situation escalated after the police took her fiancé to the detention center. She said that two female police officers beat her and dragged her across the hall by her hair, tied her up and locked her in a room. Then men entered the room, beat her and threatened to rape her, she said.
The police released a statement last week saying that the officer and his fiancée arrived at the station drunk and that the woman was aggressive. They claimed that she had hit a female police officer and bit another officer. She was arrested and a judge remanded her in custody. But three days later, the Supreme Court released the woman on bail and criticized the police and the lower court that had imprisoned her.
Since then, many people have written angry posts on social media, and former and current army officers have shared a viral video of the woman and promised to support her struggle, as her father is a retired army brigadier.
The Indian army also wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court, stating that "the soldier was detained for almost 14 hours without being charged" and that "his prestige has been degraded due to the serious incident.
The woman's father told the BBC that he tried to find his daughter that night, saying that the police had not informed him of the charges.
The state government said it "respects the Indian army" and is "concerned about the dignity, safety and rights of women." It appointed retired judge Chitta Ranjan Dash to conduct an investigation and submit a report within 60 days. Seven men accused of harassing the couple were arrested by police and released on bail.
Recall
Manipur state authorities imposed a curfew and cut off the Internet due to escalating ethnic violence. At least 9 people were killed in September as a result of attacks by armed groups.